Harpies Origins: Aradia is a comic created by Marcel Dupree & Vicenzo Carratù and written by Elisa Bisignano with art by Matteo Illuminati and colors & letters by Loris Ravina. The daughter of the sun and moon heads down to earth with the assignment of freeing the oppressed. This is a supernatural tale dealing with witchcraft in medieval times with most of the central characters being women. The leading lady here is Aradia, the daughter of Lucifer and Diana who has her own little community on earth and who runs into conflict with both Lady Maria and the Bishop. Orsola is Aradia’s closest companion who sometimes acts as the voice of reason. The plot is somewhat straightforward if you know about church or medieval history; witchcraft appears, the religious people attempt to stamp it out using brutal methods. There are themes of forbidden love with an underlying mystery as some intentions aren’t fully known. There are some action moments and while they don’t get gory they do get bloody. There are some sexy moments which fit the story. The pace here is steady and things get intense when lives hang in the balance. The dialogue here is in Old English but it isn’t so heavy that you won’t understand it. There are no wordy pages here. This is a comic that shows Aradia’s beginnings and gives us a close look at her character and personality.

            The art style here is modern but it remind of some older comics. The color palette here fits the time the story takes place; no extra bright colors except in special moments. The atmosphere is gritty with a dirty feel. The location seems to change every few pages but it mainly takes place in or around an unnamed town. The expression level here is above average with most of the characters displaying a variety of looks. The faces here vary in detail and quality which leads to them going from soft to stiff sometimes on the same page. Due to that some expressions seem more impactful and less silly than others. The action here is bloody and occasionally explosive with the scenes being generally short. None of the outfits here stand out, they all fit the time. There are quite a few moments where women are topless and there are a couple of sex scenes.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes.

“Would I like this?”

If you like medieval supernatural stories starring a woman who is a witch and is going against religious folks this is for you. Also for fans of LGBTQIA stories.

“What would this comic’s film rating be?”

R. Violence, nudity, sex.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“Tell that man to go back to the swill he came out of.”

 

Digital Link: https://nosleeppress.gumroad.com/l/poMQM

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/141496613/harpies-origins-aradia/description

***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***

Probably Contains Spoilers

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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 30

Violent Pages: 8, for 27% of the comic

Sexy Pages: 5, for 17% of the comic

 

**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**

 

Violence Level – 3

“Wasn’t no tussling at all.”

“Sometimes you gotta hit somebody.”

“I’m getting charged with how many counts of assault?”

“This was a tournament arc.”

“All my life I had to fight.”

 

Gore Level – 3

“The only thing leaking out your face is tears.”

“Looks like somebody spilled some ketchup.”

“Might need to soak that up with a bath towel.”

“That isn’t supposed to be outside the body.”

“This is a slaughterhouse.”

 

Death Level – 2

“And everybody lived happily ever after.”

“We might have gone to a couple funerals.”

“It just LOOKS like a serial killer was here.”

“Yeah this was a tragedy.”

“Think Gettysburg.”

 

Porn Level – 4

“Everybody kept their clothes on.”

“I guess it was too hot for a bra.”

“Sometimes you got to let everything air out.”

“This is like late night Cinemax in the early 2000’s.”

“Oh. This is porn.”